Poetry Prompts from the New York Times
December 09, 2022
The New York Times and I have a long, one-sided relationship that includes a very sniffy rejection letter for a job I applied for ages ago. Whatever. It's still my favorite paper. Lately it has been sending me poetry prompts for which I am very grateful. I should explain. Every day in my feed reader I get the headlines (and links) for articles in the Well section, and many of them seem like the beginnings of poems. (A few also sound spectacularly unrelated to wellness, but I digress.)
Some examples:
Sadder but wiser? Maybe not
With this weed, I thee wed
Your cat might not be ignoring you when you speak
Tell us about your friends
Falling for your sperm donor
No more hiding
Aren't they great! I really want to hear the poems that start with these first lines. At a certain point I have to start writing them, right?
Anyway. Another source of inspiration has been The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, the new book by Franny Choi. I'm in the middle of reading it, and my favorite line so far is "Every day of my life has been something other than my last." from one of the poems with the (same) title "Upon Learning That Some Korean War Refugees Used Partially Detonated Napalm Canisters as Cooking Fuel." This is powerful work, y'all.
The Poetry Friday roundup for December 9th is at artist & author Michelle Kogan's blog.
Photo: "Iced Tea at the Diner," by ST
Susan, that's brilliant! See, it's still serving you, even if they were silly enough not to hire you. Thanks for this poem-starter idea...
Posted by: Laura Purdie Salas | December 09, 2022 at 12:56 PM
Thanks, Laura! I like the idea that the paper is still serving me. Now I'm thinking these prompts could make a whole collection. Well, once I write the actual poems...
Posted by: Susan | December 09, 2022 at 01:00 PM
Ha! Yes, write those poems! I'll bet the Times would be interested in reading a collection of poems based on their own headlines. Love it!
Posted by: Linda Mitchell | December 10, 2022 at 05:58 AM
Ha, Linda! I do think these would be such fun to write. I've been collecting them for a while, but it's getting time to just get to it.
Posted by: Susan | December 10, 2022 at 09:38 AM
Now I'll never look at those headlines in the same way again, Susan. I hope you do write from them & share. Thanks for the extra link to that new book, too!
Posted by: Linda Baie | December 10, 2022 at 10:15 AM
You're welcome, Linda. Thank you for reading! The Franny Choi book really is good.
Posted by: Susan | December 10, 2022 at 10:26 AM
Susan, some of those headlines are really funny so have fun with them. Thank you for this quote.,"Every day of my life has been something other than my last." It is so inspirational. Just keep on going in life and enjoy each day.
Posted by: Carol Varsalona | December 10, 2022 at 10:36 AM
Thanks for stopping by, Carol. I stopped in my tracks, mentally, when I read that line by Franny Choi. Very powerful.
Posted by: Susan | December 10, 2022 at 11:27 AM
OMG - love those headliner poems! I'll be reading my daily NYT feed with new eyes!
Posted by: PATRICIA J FRANZ | December 10, 2022 at 06:29 PM
Your introductory paragraph made me laugh! (Sorry for making mirth from your pain!!)
The poem starters are fantastic, and Franny Choi's book sounds like a must-read. Thanks!
Posted by: Mary Lee | December 10, 2022 at 07:10 PM
Patricia, see if you see some poems in those headlines!
hahaha, Mary Lee. No more pain from the NYT, just our lopsided relationship. Well, okay, our non-relationship. I came up with one poem already. Reading Poetry Friday posts on Saturday morning always inspires.
Posted by: Susan | December 10, 2022 at 09:49 PM
I think I get the Well section to, but read more of "The Morning." These are intriguing and yes do get busy and start those poems. Thanks for Franny Choi's link, her poem she read is wonderful!
Posted by: Michelle Kogan | December 11, 2022 at 12:43 AM
You're welcome, Michelle! And thank you for hosting Poetry Friday. I got interested in Franny Choi's work after listening to her and Danez Smith on the "Vs." podcast; they have such good rapport and are very funny together. They're no longer hosts of the show but you can still access their episodes.
Posted by: Susan | December 11, 2022 at 10:03 AM
What great place for inspiration! I'll be looking at the the headlines from the NYT a little differently now, I think.
Posted by: Rose Cappelli | December 11, 2022 at 12:10 PM
For sure, Rose! For space reasons (I assume), the feed headlines are usually shorter and therefore catchier and funny. They do a good job of catching your attention in a hurry.
Posted by: Susan | December 11, 2022 at 05:02 PM
I also get their daily newsletter. I don't pay to read the articles, but like you said, the titles are intriguing. What a great idea to use them to prompt poetry. The challenge is on!
Posted by: Margaret Simon | December 12, 2022 at 07:14 AM
That Franny Choi line is wonderful. So simple, but so much there.
That list of prompts reads like a found poem itself and now I can't wait to read the poems that come from these lines. :)
The NYT doesn't know what they are missing!
Posted by: Karen Edmisten | December 12, 2022 at 09:46 AM
Margaret, yes, a challenge! I wrote one already, very silly, but hope to get another going before the next Poetry Friday.
Karen, yes, that line is so simple and profound. And those prompts definitely could be a found poem!
Posted by: Susan | December 12, 2022 at 09:59 AM
You are correct - these are great opening lines. I particularly would love to read a poem titles "Falling in Love with Your Sperm Donor"! :)
Posted by: Marilyn Garcia | December 12, 2022 at 06:43 PM
Hahaha. That's a good one, right?
Posted by: Susan | December 13, 2022 at 09:30 AM
"Every day of my life has been something other than my last." -- I'm going to save this one!
Posted by: Laura Shovan | December 15, 2022 at 10:39 AM
It's a good one! Thanks for stopping by.
Posted by: Susan | December 15, 2022 at 02:25 PM